Gumbo, A lil bit of everything

I'm allergic to shellfish. The smell alone is enough to make me nauseous. Ironically, seafood gumbo is a family favorite at my house. Every Christmas my mother, grandmother, and aunt gather around my stove and dump every shellfish known to man, in a huge pot. In addition, they add hot sausage and chili log (don't ask), okra, and a million different peppers. Or at least this is how I imagine the gumbo is prepared. I know the ingriedients just not the recipe. The reason why is because I am allergic to shellfish. So I sit alone in my room, huddled by an open window (in 27 degree weather) waiting for everyone to finish cooking, tasting, eating, enjoying the gumbo.

I find it annoying that eveytime I announce to a New Orleanian that I am allergic to shellfish, they ask "what are you doing here, then?" Well I thought I was here to recieve an education. And I guess I have. One thing I learned is that there are many ways to make gumbo. Not just the nauseating shellfish-okra variation I'm accustomed to. To my surprise, I learned that there are gumbos that don't even have seafood at all! So apparently New Orleans does smile at the seafood-intolerant like myself.

The concept of tasting the gumbo has been lurking around in my head for a few days now. I asked a friend was there such a thing as a chicken gumbo, and her response was that there are as many gumbos as there are ways to make them. Looking at how clueless I was, she further explained that gumbo is a lil bit of everything, so yea I could have my chicken gumbo. When I think about it, I relate gumbo to the people of New Orleans. The natives I've befriended include, a half Palestinean, a half Filipino (both mixed with black), many full blood Creoles, a couple of Hondurans, just to name a few. Where I'm from the people aren't as diverse. The people here make the pot of gumbo that we call New Orleans such a rich and flavorful place. Tourists come from all over just to get a taste of this city. Before I couldn't, wouldn't look at a pot of gumbo without getting sick, now that I live in one, I'm finally ready to taste it.